Dinner at the Lakeside Cafe in Encino, California
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Dinner at the Lakeside Cafe in Encino, California
It’s Thursday night and let’s go out to dinner!
Chinese? Japanese? Deli? Where do you want to go?
I don’t know, someplace different.
Okay, ….
How about the Lakeside Cafe in Encino?
We went there one time for dinner a long time ago, it was soon after they opened in the old El Torito building on Ventura Boulevard (just east of Balboa Blvd) adjacent to Los Encinos State Historic Park with a fantastic view of the lake.
CLICK ON ANY SMALL PIC TO SEE A LARGER PIC AND VIEW THE GALLERY
AND THEN CLICK AGAIN TO VIEW THE PIC AT FULL SIZE!
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- Los Encinos State Historic Park
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- Los Encinos State Historic Park
El Torito Mexican restaurant had been in the same space for years and was an Encino “constant”! After they closed, a couple of other restaurant/bar/club ventures tried to make a “go” of it and failed. And now the tenant is the Lakeside Cafe, a combination coffee house and bar-restaurant and now also a performance space with live jazz and other music.
El Torito Mexican Restaurant
We went there just for dinner at about 6:30pm. They have Valet Parking for $3.00 in a lot off Ventura and there’s metered street parking that operates 8am-8pm everyday except Sunday. We found a spot on the street and entered through the Valet lot entrance (there’s also an entrance on Ventura).
The “Front-of-House” on Ventura is set up like a coffee house.
Lakeside Cafe “Front-of-House” on Ventura Blvd – Coffee House
You can enter the restaurant from Ventura Blvd through the coffee house area and center room. There is additional inside table seating here away from the bar area.
Lakeside Cafe Center Room, Host Desk Entrance from Valet Lot, Additional Indoor Tables and the Waiting Area as seen from Coffee House side
If you enter through the Valet lot you walk into the center room and arrive at the Host desk and the waiting area. There are couches, a coffee table and benches for additional seating against the wall.
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There is a side guest table as well. Would you care for some literature?
Sunday Brunch, Happy Hour 3pm-6pm, Live Jazz on Saturdays and the Catering Menu are featured on the promotional material available on the guest table, on your table and inside the menu. Quality marketing and promotion is good business (direct to customer inside the restaurant).
The Dining Room, the Bar and the Outdoor Deck Patio on the Lake
The restaurant’s dining room is open to the elements because of the outdoor seating and deck. It was a lovely evening, the doors were open, but as the sun set it got cooler, and then colder due to its location on the lake. We knew this was inevitable and we decided to sit inside the bar area dining room away from the doors when we arrived.
There was a good crowd, but it wasn’t too crowded when we arrived. They have it set up as a “cafe” with wood 4-top tables and nice chairs in the dining room. On our previous visit we sat at a bar table on tall stools and it was not comfortable. The dining areas are wide open, so it has a cafeteria vibe where you’re eating with everyone in the room. Also, there are only hard surfaces indoors (wood floor and glass windows), so it gets really loud inside even when it’s not crowded. I would not recommend trying to have a romantic dinner inside, although it might be nice place for a rendezvous outside during the afternoon or on a warm summer night.
There is a small covered outdoor deck patio, which is separate from the other outdoor seating by the lake. It would be nice for having a small private cocktail or dinner party.
CLICK ON ANY SMALL PIC TO SEE A LARGER PIC AND VIEW THE GALLERY
AND THEN CLICK AGAIN TO VIEW THE PIC AT FULL SIZE!
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- The Dining Room
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- The Bar in the Dining Room
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- Wine Selection in the Bar/Dining Room
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- Outdoor Patio Deck on the Lake
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- The Bar at the Lakeside Cafe
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- The Bar at the Lakeside Cafe
They have a very nice bar, unfortunately it takes up a lot of space in the Dining Room area, and makes the dining room part of the bar area, adding a lot of traffic and noise to the room.
NOTE: There is a DISCLAIMER NOTICE in the menu!
Outdoor Seating – Dining Al Fresco on the Lake!
The Lake and the Dining Room Entrance from the Outdoor Seating Area
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AND THEN CLICK AGAIN TO VIEW THE PIC AT FULL SIZE!
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- Outdoor Seating
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- Outdoor Seating
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- Outdoor Seating
There’s outdoor seating by the lake, which is a beautiful place to dine al fresco on a warm San Fernando Valley day or night. Be sure to read the Disclaimer in the menu though!
The Dinner Menu and Bar Offerings:
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AND THEN CLICK AGAIN TO VIEW THE PIC AT FULL SIZE!
Cocktails $12?
It’s a nice place, but they have “westside” prices in the heart of the valley!
The food was good, but their food items and drinks are expensive compared to many other neighborhood restaurants, which is probably the reason we haven’t been back since the first time we ate here. We most likely would have ordered drinks otherwise.
On The Menu: fried calamari, a Santa Fe salad, fettucine chicken alfredo and a coke
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- Fried Calamari w/lemon, marinara sauce & aoli
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- Santa Fe Salad
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- Fettucine Chicken Alfredo
The calamari was excellent, lightly fried and crispy/chewy! The Santa Fe salad was good, but The Cheesecake Factory’s salad dressing is the standard to which all other Santa Fe salads are compared. This one “not as good”. And the fettucine chicken alfredo was tasty, but just a little bland. The thin sliced chicken and pasta was cooked perfectly, which is sometimes hard to accomplish with a pasta sauce. The service was only okay, it was a little scattered and could have and should have been better. Our entrees arrived pretty soon after the appetizer (while we were still eating the calamari), which is good for fast service, but bad in relation to “timing the meal”. Nothing to really be upset about though.
According to the literature, they have Sunday Brunch and Happy Hour at the bar 3pm-6pm. They have live music on Saturdays and they do catering too.
Here’s their Catering Menu:
Lakeside Cafe Catering Menu
Lakeside Cafe – 16817 Ventura Blvd., Encino, California 91436
818-616-2430 www.lakesidecafe.com @LakesideEncino
Read our previous Blog Los Encinos Park
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